A comparative study of classical and contemporary commercial vocal pedagogies
Date
2022
Authors
Cox, Megan Nicole
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Abstract
This study analyses the emerging discourses present in classical and contemporary commercial music (CCM) vocal pedagogy texts. It inquires into how these discourses manifest with regards to the vocal techniques of registration, vocal colour, and vibrato. The methodology involved identifying key words and phrases, interpreting them through the devices of situated meanings and cultural models, and placing them in a larger social structure through historical and intertextual context. The emergent discourses among classical pedagogy texts reflect themes of racial and gender bias, pathologising and othering CCM techniques and singers, recommending a bodiless tone, and revering the golden age of bel canto. The emergent discourses among CCM pedagogy texts reflect themes of commercialism, anti-institutionalism, and omnivory. Overall, this suggests that the discourses driving these fields are not unrelated, but rather reflections of each other.
Description
A thesis submitted to the School of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand in fulfilment of the requirements for a Master of Music in Research and Creative Work, 2021